Dying Wishes
by clover96
Summary: Tim McGee is late for work, but that's the least of his worries. What will he do when facing death, and his choice of admitting his true feelings to Abby.    Hopefully you will enjoy reading this story, as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Please Review!
1. Late

Chapter 1- Late

He lay on his death bed, shallow breaths fading into the warm air, his condition worsening, the faces of the ones he loved watched over him, as he took his dying breaths. He reached out his hand, hoping to connect with the love of his life for one last time.

"Abby," he whispered, "I love you…" Mere seconds after this declaration of his love for her, the darkness engulfed him, carrying him away from the life, which had been so unkind to him, it was over.

Timothy McGee was late, very late, for the first time in his life.

"Damn it! Gibbs is going to kill me" he sighed, as he scuffed on his other shoe, and headed for his car. He glanced at his watch,

"I'll have to drive like Ziva unless I want to be fired." Dead or fired, he thought. He decided that although his life was fairly important to him, if Gibbs found him this late, he'd be more than dead. The minutes flew by, unlike the traffic, what the hell was going on. He pulled over onto a patch of grass, bumping his head on the roof of his car, could today get any worse. He jogged up the side of the road, and there stood a man. He was distraught, his eyes bloodshot, probably alcohol, or drugs, or something. Tim sprinted back to his car, carrying his id, and strapping his gun into the holster.

"Sir!" Yelled, the now serious Special Agent McGee.

"Excuse me! You're blocking the road sir!" He yelled again. The man looked up,

"What agency are you? I need NCIS!" Now this was strange, most people had never even heard of NCIS, let alone block the traffic to find someone who belonged to the agency.

"I need you to investigate a murder!" The man yelled intently,

"Whose?" Tim asked, becoming more confused by the minute.

"Mine…" The man muttered quietly.

"Come with me sir, I will take you to my boss." McGee told him, Gibbs will know what to do, he always does.

At least Tim had a reason for being late now, and his name was Lieutenant Roy Sanders. Tim helped Roy to stumble through the building, and into the elevator. He was right, the man was definitely ill, he was coughing and sputtering all over him, this better not be contagious he thought to himself. The satisfying 'ding' of the elevator rang through his ears,

"Finally!" Thought Tim. "Come on Roy, I will introduce you to my boss, he should be able to help you," Roy nodded, and shuffled slowly into the bullpen. Tony, and Gibbs looked confused, yet Ziva's face showed enchantment, like a child on Christmas morning.

"This is…" McGee was cut off by Roy,

"Lieutenant Roy Sanders, Special Agent…"

"Gibbs" Gibbs replied sternly.

"I need you to investigate my murder." Roy proclaimed, and pulled out a small chunk of hair from his head. Gibbs eyebrows raised somewhere beyond his hairline. He stood slowly from his desk, and gestured for Roy to accompany him.

"Who's that McTardy?" "Actually, I'm not too sure… but he got me off the hook with Gibbs at least,"

"Abby was worried about you McGee," Ziva giggled, "First time you've ever been late.

" She continued. "Ooooh Timmy!" shouted Abby from across the room, and gave him a hug.

"Bad news Timmy, I have to take your clothes off." Abby said, oblivious to the connotation she had just made. Tony grinned widely,

"Enjoy Probielicious!" Tim felt the charismatic smirk of Tony on his back, who was now glaring at Abby.

"Oh! I have to test his clothes for radiation," Tony's mouth shaped into an 'o', and Abby dragged Tim from the room.

"Radiation? How?" Tim questioned, he always reacted badly to things he couldn't control.

"That dude you brought in here, he has radiation poisoning, and he coughed all over you, didn't he. Rolling his eyes, Tim followed Abby into the spare room of Abby's lab. Her normally loud music was quiet, and depressing.

"Take your clothes off," she said calmly;

"It's been a while since you've said that to me Abbs," Tim chuckled.

"Only this time, I'm not staying." She smiled, and skipped out of the room.

This was definitely not what Tim was expecting of his day at work, standing almost naked in a cold room, waiting for his ex-girlfriend to analyse his clothes for radioactive materials. He was feeling self conscious enough already, considering that the door does not lock, and at anytime, anyone could enter the room, putting Tim through even more stress than he had already endured. He was sitting on the ground, with his back against the wall, when he heard the door creak open. Oh crap, it was Gibbs… with Abby.

"What the hell are you doin'?"

"Aaah, Abby, she… she umm…"

"Can you construct a sentence Agent McGee?"

"Yes Boss, Abby needed to test my clothes for radiation."

"Well I'm going to leave you to… whatever it is you're doing." Abby burst out laughing as soon as she heard the elevator, Gibbs was gone.

"You knew!" Tim laughed,

"You nearly got me fired!" Abby's laughter was uncontrollable,

"You still haven't taken all your clothes off Timmy." She giggled.

"WHAT! You need… these too!" Abby nodded profusely, her laughter was finally beginning to subside.

"You're going to stay aren't you?" She nodded again, and Tim pulled off his boxers, and added them to the pile of clothes beside him.

"Happy?", he sighed, "Very!" she laughed, and picked up his clothes, his dignity with them. So there he stood, naked and imprisoned… in Abby's lab.

After what felt like decades, Abby finally returned… but without his clothes. Instead, she was holding a set of hospital clothes.

"Here you are!" she said sweetly, and handed them through the door.

"Abby! Where the hell are my clothes?"

"Still being processed Tim, but Gibbs wanted you back, and I can't really send you back naked can I." Tim was contemplating what would be worse. After dressed, he looked into a full body mirror and laughed,

"Tony is going to love this." He shuffled into the bullpen, and rolled his eyes as Tony and Ziva immediately began thinking of jibes. Tony made the first move,

"They say the clothes make the man, what does this make McGee?"

"Umm gay…" giggled Ziva.

"No Ziva. Aquasmurf," Even McGee laughed at that one, Tony was like an X rated Peter Pan.

"Gibbs is doing interrogation, come on, this is sure to brighten your day." Watching Gibbs interrogate a suspect was scary enough behind the glass, he had never even concerned himself with being the one opposite him.

"I swear Gibbs enjoys this more than sex." Tony laughed, admittedly it would explain a lot about him. A sudden feeling of nausea sent Tim looking hurriedly around the room for a bin. He thankfully found a bin, and was violently sick, Tony and Ziva watching on, worried, and completely confused.

"Yeah, I felt like that the first time I imagined Gibbs having 'relations'." Laughed Tony. He wiped his mouth, and attempted to stand up, however only a few minutes from the initial nausea, he began to feel light-headed, eventually collapsing on the hard flooring of the interrogation viewing room. Ziva's always steady hands shook slightly, making dialling the hospital much more difficult than imagined. The rule was well known, 'never interrupt Gibbs during interrogration.

"What have I told you DiNozzo!" scolded Gibbs through gritted teeth. "McGee collapsed Boss." Gibbs kicked the door open, and stormed out past Tony. Luckily, the medical team had arrived, and were pulling Tim onto a stretcher.

Tony had called Abby, as he well knew; Abby and Tim had deeper, unexpressed feelings towards each other. Abby was frantically pacing outside the NCIS office building, finally slowing, and leaning against the door panel of the ambulance. As she saw Tim's face, she knew, something dreadful was going to happen, was she going to lose the one she loved, the one she always counted on. It could be worse, she thought to herself. It could have been a body bag. The thought of Tim dying brought tears to her eyes, it was as if time itself had slowed down. Tim was loaded into the ambulance, and her pleading with the paramedics to let her stay with Tim. The paramedics must have decided that arguing with Abby at this time was pointless, she would run along behind them if need be.


	2. Persistence

Tim was sick, and Abby knew it, she had been just about to tell Gibbs when she heard about Tim. His jacket and shirt had come back positive to radiation, meaning Tim was most likely affected. Her worst nightmare was unravelling, would she never be able to tell him the truth. The trip to the hospital was long, and bumpy, it seemed kind of ironic that they were trying to keep a patient still, and calm, when their truck was bumping along the gravelly roads. She had decided, as soon as he woke up, she would tell him, after all she may never get another chance. Once at the hospital, time sped up, like her life was being fast forwarded. Abby was almost asleep when Tim awoke,

"Abby…" She jumped from her seat in the small room, and rushed to the uncomfortable looking bed.

"I'm right here Timmy, what do you need?"

"You Abby… I need you," Him finally saying it brought a tear to Abby's eyes. He had to be okay, he just had to.

He took a deep breath, and was just about to confess his undying love towards his Goth, when the breath became a cough, and he knew, as the nausea returned, only now he was nowhere close to a bin.

"Abby, bucket!" Tim whispered, holding his mouth tightly, and gripping his stomach with his other hand. Abby ran to the table and grabbed the bucket just in time for Tim to lose the battle he was having, with keeping his lunch down. He looked up, to see Abby's horrified face, he looked down at the bucket again, it was red, he was vomiting blood now.

"If only I'd been on time today…" he whispered to Abby, who was raking her hands through his hair.

"I'm getting a doctor Timmy," she ran from the room, tears beginning to drip onto her cheeks. Tim knew she wasn't just going to grab a doctor; she didn't want him to see her like this. When Abby finally returned with a doctor, her eyes were red, and she was trying to hide a handbag filled with scrunched up tissues. Tim's eyes were focussed on Abby, if the eyes truly were windows to the soul, her soul was miserable, almost beyond repair. After three years of investigative work, Tim could tell when someone was hiding something, and Abby was, and it wasn't just the tissues, it was deeper than that, much deeper.

The doctor checked Tim over, he was freezing cold, but for some reason they weren't giving him any blankets, was he going to die so soon that there was no need to bother with such comforts.

"Can I have a blanket… please?" whispered Tim. Such a gentleman thought Abby; he was in so much pain, and discomfort, yet still using impeccable manners.

"Sorry Timothy, you have an incredibly high fever, any extra heat will only cause you to feel more poorly." Explained the doctor with a sympathetic, yet pained expression.

"What's wrong with me Doc?" Tim asked, rubbing his hand through his hair.

"Radiation poisoning, I am terribly sorry young man." Oh crap, thought Tim, yep he was going to die. He'd survived many incidents, which should have killed him, the massive car crash he endured when he was sixteen, what about when he was nearly blown up by a car bomb, or nearly sent to prison for the murder of a Metro Detective, yes, this time he had truly run out of luck.

Abby did not leave Tim's side all night, she sat by him as he slept, and pondered what she could say to him, to finally release the feelings she had been harbouring for almost four years. He awoke early the next morning, to find Abby's head nestled in his neck, how could this end so soon. This tragedy could not have come at a worse time, Abby was ready to admit her feelings, and Tim was in the best physical condition he had ever been in, until now. Abby began talking in her sleep,

"Timmy, you can't die… love… you," she mumbled, still Tim wasn't sure. She may only love him, as she loves Tony, or Gibbs, he couldn't help but feel insecure. Tim was becoming increasingly worried about Abby, and even himself, his breathing was constricting, like breathing through a straw.

"HELP!" he screamed, as loud as his lungs would allow. He was still freezing, his body was shaking uncontrollably.

"He's convulsing, get the…" Everything went blank, as if he had been blindfolded. Abby was awoken by the loud yelling, and was scared out of her mind.

"Timmy!" "Wake him up!" she cried out at the doctors,

"Sorry Ma'am, you are going to have to leave." Unable to protest, she was guided out of the small, and now crowded room.

It was almost an hour, when a young, pained looking doctor strolled out of the hospital room.

"He's stable, but we had to sedate him, I am guessing he will not be awake for several hours." Abby nodded, and re-entered the small, empty, and now deathly quiet room.

"I'll wait as long as it takes." She whispered into Tim's ear. Abby watched as Tim slept, he didn't look peaceful; it was as if his computer-like brain was still working at full speed. He was dreaming, kind of, remembering the first time he met Abby. It was four years ago, he loved Abby so much that he decided to get a tattoo, just to impress her. They dated briefly, that was before Abby broke his heart. Remembering the moment when Abby told Tim that Gibbs rules were stopping them from being together he tried to move on, but found that no one was surmountable to his Abby. Only now did Abby realise that she felt the same way.

Abby was mesmerised by his face, he was smiling now, this made her smile too, she only wished she could access his thoughts. Tim remembered the moment he met Tony, which was while Kate was still alive. Tony was actually sympathetic towards Tim, he tried to tell him that Abby really wasn't his type, which was also the day that Tony became speechless for the first time in his life. He told Tony that he had gotten a tattoo on his ass.

Abby recounted their relationship differently, the first time she heard about McGee was over the phone, he sounded awkward, but kind of cute. She was instantly attracted to the geeky young man, but not in the same way as Tim. Abby and Tim had differing opinions on one thing. Why can't I just have sex with guys, without them wanting something more? She thought to herself, but now she knew, she wanted more as well. However, Tim had thought that because they were sleeping together, that they must have been in love. The moment that Tim had told Abby that he loved her, things changed between them, and not for the better. She didn't know how to react, and soon after his declaration, she dumped him. Did it really take his death for her to realise, or was it now that she had decided to tell him. Still, she hadn't held her promise to herself, she promised that she was going to admit it to Tim as soon as he had woken up, but the when the time came and passed, she had said nothing.

What if he didn't wake up again, she would live with that regret for the rest of her life, how would she bare such remorse? Suddenly, Tim leaned forward in the hospital bed, and began coughing again, how long was he going to last?

"Abby!" he called excitedly,

"You stayed," he smiled genuinely, surprising Abby, and trying to resist the urge to lean over and kiss him. Sadly, no contact was allowed, ever again Abby thought.

"I'll stay as long as you want me to." Abby whispered into his ear, this was the closest they were allowed to be, not nearly close enough. She was just about to tell him, for the second time, when her phone began to ring. "You should take that Abbs, it might be important." Tim sighed, and watched as Abby jogged out into the waiting room. It was Ziva,

"Roy Sanders died early this morning Abby, how is McGee?"

"Worse than last time you saw him, I'm starting to get worried, is he actually going to die?" There was silence on the other end of the phone,

"I'm not sure Abby." And the line went dead. That was just a nice way to say yes, the love of your life is going to die. Abby shuffled back into Tim's room.

"Who was that?" he murmured, sensing the sadness on Abby's face.

"Ziva, Roy Sanders is dead."

Tim had been receiving radiotherapy for three days, when he took a turn for the worse. Whenever Tim wasn't sleeping, he was coughing, or throwing up. Abby could not stand to watch Tim slowly fade away. She returned to the hospital just in time to see Tim's last breaths. She called Gibbs, telling him about Tim's horrific condition, and to bring Tony, Ziva, Ducky, even Jimmy to the hospital for his last minutes of life. Doctors crowded around him, leaving Abby to mourn for Tim, for his inevitable death. Gibbs rushed in behind her, pulling her into a tight, fatherly hug, she cried into his chest as he held her, gently rocking her, just trying to calm Abby enough for her to say goodbye to Tim for one last time. His blood pressure was dropping lower, and lower, another minute and he would be dead. Everyone had given up, except for Gibbs, he moved slowly to Tim's side, and whacked the back of his head, this had worked for Tony, and surely it couldn't hurt.

The darkness surrounding Tim was thickening like fog. When suddenly a sharp pain struck his head, like being bashed with a baseball bat,

"Boss…" he yelled as loud as he could, somehow the wakeup call of Gibbs head slaps had always worked,

"Stay with us Tim, open your eyes and look at me!" Gibbs ordered. Tim tried his hardest to fight the overwhelming darkness. His eyes opened slightly; as he watched the distraught faces of everyone he loved. He reached out his hand, hoping to connect with Abby. She extended her own arm, and tightly squeezed his hand. It took courage for him to say this again, especially after the reaction of the last time.

"I love you Abby," he announced, proud and strong, and not embarrassed by the presence of Tony, and even Gibbs, who at any other point would have laughed at his admission. Her quiet voice echoed through the room,

"I love you too Timmy, you can't leave me now!"For that moment they connected, on a level they had never achieved. It gave Tim the power to hold on, even for a few more seconds.


	3. Goodbye Rule 12

The seconds turned to minutes, and the minutes turned to hours. There was not one person in the hospital who had not heard about the courageous struggle, the young agent was fighting. Tim was still unable to evade the darkness threatening to take his life, over, and over again. Yet each time, he pushed through the darkness, opening his eyes, and relying on the hopeful faces of his team to get him through. Doctors tried giving Tim pain relievers, and every time he refused.

"They'll send me to sleep, and I won't wake up." He rationalised to them. His decision was highly respected, he would deal with whatever pain was forced on him, if he could win this battle. He would do it 1000 times over, just to see Abby's beautiful smile. Night fell, and Tim was still battling against the darkness, still trying to overthrow him. Ducky, Jimmy, and Ziva were forced to leave, as the doctor enforced to them, that the large amount of visitors was only stressing him further. They attempted to remove Tony from the room, but he refused to leave, he would not abandon his friend, his 'brother'.

By midnight, it was actually becoming easier to fight the darkness, still threatening to consume him. He knew, that one side must triumph, he could not let go, would not forfeit. Abby held his hand all night, comforted by Tony and Gibbs seated either side her. It had been almost ten minutes since the darkness had threatened him, he was beginning to feel stronger, and determined to fight for as long as it takes. Another ten minutes passed, and he was still alive, feeling no longer jeopardized, a refreshing feeling of control flooded into his body. "Thank you." Whispered Tim, his manners still overriding his pain.

"Way to go Tim!" Tony commended, even Tim smiling now, he would live to fight another day.

A young nurse woke Tim early the next morning, he was exhausted from the strenuous fight he undertook the previous day.

"You're looking much better today sir," exclaimed the nurse politely. She was very pretty, however Tim barely noticed thanks to Abby, his love, Tony did though, of course.

"Yeah, I'm feeling a bit better, and umm call me Tim." She nodded, and busied herself with the iv beside Tim's bed.

"Do you know if I can, well… survive this?" Tim asked the nurse,

"You are very strong, you should make it." She smiled politely again, Tim still looking troubled.

"Did I not answer your question?" she fished. She didn't really answer what Tim really wanted to know, yet he was too embarrassed to push the question further. As she leaned over to fix the drip in his arm, she whispered so that no one else could hear,

"Would you like them to leave so you can ask, whatever it is that is troubling you?" He nodded naturally, and she smiled sweetly.

"You guys just need to leave for a minute okay, I just have to check him over." Gibbs, Tony, and Abby filed out of the room, leaving Tim and the nurse alone.

"I was wondering because it was so contagious, how long will it be before I can… you know."

"Oh right! It'll be about two weeks, you think you can deal with that?" She giggled,

"Yeah, I'll live," he smiled,

"I'll bring them back in." she winked and left the room.

The days were becoming easier to live through, however, despite Tim feeling considerably better, there was still no talk of him being released. It had been two weeks, and Tim was in a very good mood. The doctors had claimed that Tim was no longer contagious, and would be able to go home tomorrow. Abby had been seated beside him, squeezing his hand when he heard the good news, she reached over the small bed and kissed him passionately. Gibbs was clearing his throat loudly, trying to reach them, that this was not the best time, however they had been waiting for this moment for weeks.

"MCROMEO!" Tony yelled from the opposite corner of the room. Abby pulled away from Tim, and sat back down in her seat.

"There goes rule number 12…" Gibbs sighed, yet somehow he knew, that he would not have the same problems with McGee and Abby, as he had encountered in the past.

"We're goin' to leave you to it," Gibbs smiled, and winked in Abby's direction. Abby jumped straight back out of her seat, and continued where she had been interrupted.

"As soon as I get out of here…" Tim began, "You're moving in." he continued, unsure whether he should be regretting his decision. Abby squealed with excitement,

"I would be delighted Timmy!" she squealed again. Gibbs entered the room again, however not before knocking, just in case he was interrupting something, again.

"Could I speak to _Timmy_?" Gibbs chuckled, and Abby skipped out of his cramped room.

"I know you're still recovering, but if you hurt Abby, God help you." Gibbs threatened.

"I could never hurt her, she was the one who hurt…" Gibbs eyebrows creased, and he nodded. Gibbs had known that Abby had made the difficult decision to split up with Tim some years ago, and essentially it had been caused by his rules.

"Hey, I'm just warning you." He made the trademark Gibbs stare, and left the room, signalling for Abby to re-enter.

"What was that all about Timmy?" Abby asked light heartedly,

"He was just telling me about how if I hurt your feelings, he was basically going to castrate me." He smiled, but a look of fright was still visible on his innocent face. Abby giggled, and embraced Tim again.

"Just so I know, I _am _your girlfriend now right?" Abby questioned embarrassingly.

"Of course Abbs! I love you, although I did before, and that didn't change…" Abby placed her finger over his lips, "anything," he mumbled, and they began to kiss again, their relationship was now as he had always fantasised.

Gibbs burst into the room again, "You're allowed to go home whenever you're ready." He mumbled, "Just don't…do anything that would… exhaust yourself McGee, you're still recovering." Abby was laughing at Gibbs poor attempt at telling them not to do the inevitable; Tim nodded and squeezed Abby's hand in a poor attempt to stop her from laughing hysterically. Gibbs rolled his eyes, and stumbled out of the room, he knew it was inevitable, but he couldn't stand to see a possible split in the team if this were to end badly.

The car trip back to Abby's house was strange, Tim was still unable to drive, and Abby hated driving anyone else's car, since hers was definitely… one of a kind. Abby had to collect all of her belongings from her apartment, to move into Tim's, as much as she was sad to leave her cosy apartment; it was on the best of circumstances.

Her bag was packed, and she was soon back behind the wheel, driving to their new home. Tim's mind was practical, despite all of the excitement, he was worried about how he could possibly store all of Abby's belongings in his already small, and crowded apartment. Abby was obviously not bothered by Gibbs warning, as they spent the best night they ever had together, definitely a change from the hospital scenery.


	4. Surprise

Amazingly, when Tim awoke late the next morning, Abby was cuddled close to him, last night was real, and they were together. Tim was already exhausted, and last night had not helped, definitely worth it however.

"Abbs! Are you awake?" he whispered romantically into her ear.

"Mmm…" she mumbled, and hugged him more tightly. "Can you help me get up, last night really… took it out of me."

"Me too," she giggled, and jumped out of bed. She extended her arm, and winked at him. Tim grabbed her hand, kissed it, and pulled himself out of his bed.

"You do, actually love me don't you?" Tim asked worriedly. He was fairly certain that Abby truly did love him, however he had to make absolutely sure before he committed his life to this beautiful woman again.

"How could you ask that Timmy? You know I love you!" Abby was surprised, and seemingly scared that Tim still have thought that she didn't love him.

"Well… last time I thought you loved me, when really you were just in it for the sex." Tim admitted sheepishly, his eyes directed at the floor, he could not look at Abby's face right now.

"I know, I was stupid, and it was pretty good…" she giggled, "but I've known you for another three years now, I'm not letting go."

"When you say 'it was pretty good' do you mean not being in a relationship or the… you know." Tim asked insecurely. Her cute laugh echoed through Tim's kitchen.

"Definitely the 'you know' Timmy!" she continued laughing, and Tim joined in. Life was amazing for both of them, and despite Tony's endless jokes, he was happy for them, glad that his Probie had finally found love, and in fact he really wasn't gay. Gibbs was less than impressed with Tim and Abby's relationship, but knew that Tim would take better care of his surrogate daughter than anyone else could.

Gibbs had decided that for the good of the team, that Tim would not help Abby in her lab unless it was crucial to a case. He was hoping to keep some of Rule 12 intact, much to the disappointment of Abby, and to a lesser extent, Tim. He was thankful for Gibbs new rule, as any other opportunity for more jokes from Tony, and Ziva may push him over the edge. Things pretty much went back to normal from then.

Monday rolled around more quickly than usual, and Tim and Abby were nowhere near ready for work. Tim was sitting cross legged on his couch, waiting for Abby to get out of the shower when he heard his apartment door's lock being picked, he ran to his bedroom, grabbing his gun, and pointing it at the door as the door swung open, it was Tony.

"Put your gun away Probie!" Tony chuckled, and slid past him into Tim's apartment. He was standing, gun in hand in his grey MIT shirt, and boxers. As if things weren't bad enough, Abby chose this moment to step out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel.

"Abbs?" Tony chuckled, and she spun around nearly dropping the towel.

"TONY! What are you doing here?" she yelled in surprise. I actually felt kind of sorry for Tony at that point, he hadn't actually meant any harm, well kind of.

"You're…here?" Tony asked, still staring blankly at Abby, Tim watching as he undressed her with his eyes.

"Can you stop staring at my girlfriend?" Tim said blankly, hoping that Tony would not be listening, or dismiss the topic before he realised what had been said.

"You said what now?" Tony yelled "You mean you guys really are… an item?" Tony continued, laughing loudly.

"So Abbs, what's he like in bed?" Tony chuckled, as if Tim was not standing right in front of him.

"Very, very good, thank you for asking Tony." Abby giggled, as Tim's face blushed a deep scarlet. How long was he going to make jokes about this comment, Tim wondered.

"High five Probie, that means your practiced. Wow, so you don't have to talk about your sex life to have one…" Tony thought aloud, his eyes were somewhere far away. Did Tony really not know that? For anyone else this would seem an impossibly idiotic question, but not for Tony.

"You know what else Tony?" Abby said, a smile wide on her beautiful, yet gothic face.

"And what's that Abbs?" Tony played along.

"Just because he doesn't talk about his sex life to _you_ doesn't he doesn't talk about it." Abby hinted, Tony smiling now, but continued to shake his head.

"C'mon McGee, you mean you actually have some tantalising tales to tell?" he joked, however another side of Tony, a caring side shone through his usual charismatic tone. Tim nodded, his face still blushing, red as a tomato.

"I guess…so, well… not umm, you know… tantalising, but… umm"

"Okay, okay, I got it McMumble!" Tony stopped Tim, as it would only become more painful, and awkward between them. "Anyway, as much as I have enjoyed ruining your morning guys, I need McGeek out on the field now." Tony continued, as he had obviously only just realised that he had actually visited Tim for a reason. "You ready to go McGee!" Tony yelled towards the closed door of Tim, and now Abby's bedroom.

"Almost." McGee yelled back, and with that he burst out of the bedroom, and grabbed his badge and gun, finally out the door, and ready for normal-ish day at work. It did not take long for Ziva to find out about his, and Abby's 'news'. Ziva did not seem her usual after she was told, like she was actually jealous of Tim for having a 'serious' relationship. He knew that she had always hinted at wanting a family one day, she had even tried to discuss the matter with Tony, only to be stopped by one of his idiotic comments.

In Tim's mind, it would be much easier if much like him and Abby, that Tony and Ziva were together, also it was obvious that there had been something more than a working relationship between Gibbs, and Director Shepherd.

As much as Tim wanted to visit Abby, he was being held in the bullpen as a kind of punishment from Gibbs. Monotony engulfed him, pacing around his desk, doing paperwork, at one point he even tried sleeping to no avail. "That's it!" he said to himself, jumped off his chair, and walked quickly to the elevator. There was a satisfying ding as the elevator doors opened, good there was no one in there. He stepped inside, and pressed the button for level 1, Abby's lab.

However when Tim turned around, pressed against the side of the elevator stood Gibbs, with a pained expression.

"Are you going to propose to her?" Gibbs asked, despite his opposition to marriage, he knew that Abby and Tim were not the type to have this kind of relationship, and break the other's heart.

This surprised Tim, however Gibbs had always possessed an intuition of when something big was happening.

"Actually yeah, I bought her a ring the other day." Tim said, trying not to show his surprise, and misunderstanding.

"Well congratulations Tim. Doesn't mean you can quit though, you're still a hell of a good agent, and I'm keeping you, even once you're married to my favourite forensic scientist." These words brought a smile to Tim's face, for the first time, ever; Gibbs had complemented him, and actually said something heartfelt. Tim's curiosity finally took advantage of this moment, and asked him,

"You don't have to answer, but do you like… love the director?" he almost whispered, worried that Gibbs might kill him right here and now, he knew Gibbs was capable.

"I really don't know Tim, sometimes I think I do, but no one could ever fill Shannon's shoes quite right." Gibbs was so direct, something Tim had never realised, and Gibbs read the confusion on his face,

"No one's ever asked, if they had they would know too." He smiled, and winked, as he pushed the emergency button again. "Congratulations again." He said warmly, and walked out of the elevator. Once again Tim was alone in the elevator, but with a completely refreshed outlook on a life.

"Hey Abbs, I had to come and see you." Tim whispered into Abby's ear. She jumped slightly, spun around in her chair, and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"I missed you Timmy!" she proclaimed, and hugged him tightly.

"You know I'm not supposed to be down here right?" he asked back.

She nodded, and skipped over to the Mass Spectrometer.

"You'd better get back upstairs before Gibbs comes back." She giggled, knowing about the kind of trouble he would be in. If only she could know about the conversation just passed.

The next few days were average, nothing special happening; Gibbs was being slightly more lenient about Tim's visit to Abby's lab. Tony seemed to guess that Tim was going to propose soon making jokes like, "Those two are like newlyweds, can't spend five minutes away from each other." Ziva still seemed jealous, but was also noticeably happy for the pair of them.

It seemed like weeks before Saturday came around, but finally the night was falling and Abby and Tim were getting ready for the Ball, little did Abby know that she would be the centre of attention that night. Abby wore a beautiful black dress, Tim was speechless, second guessing whether he deserved someone so gorgeous.


	5. Proposal

"Wow Timmy! Aren't you a little overdressed?" Abby asked him, Tim unable to find words to explain his brand new tuxedo.

"Do you think so?" he asked carefully.

"No Timmy, you look hawwt!" she giggled, and walked out of his apartment. Tim slid the box into his pocket, and locked the door behind him.

So there they were, slowly dancing at the Ball, Tim trying to pick the right moment to pop the question. The song finished, and there was silence, the news had spread, and now Abby was the only person unaware of the proposal.

"Abby Sciuto…" Tim whispered to her, and knelt down in front of her, the crowd turned to the middle of the ballroom, making a circle around the pair of them. Tim pulled the small velvet box out of his pocket, and lifted the lid.

"Would you do the honour of, becoming my wife?" he beamed, no worry invading his thoughts. She gasped at the ring, and instantly burst into tears.

"Of course Timmy!" She was beaming now too, and as Tim stood up, she jumped onto him, wrapping herself around him. Abby's cherry flavoured lips touched Tim's, and they began to passionately kiss in front of everyone, thankfully Tim noticed quickly, and pulled back from Abby, reminding her of their company, blushing a bright scarlet.

Their co-workers gathered around them, grinning from ear to ear. Abby ran straight to Gibbs, and hugged him,

"I couldn't have done any better Gibbs." She smiled, and Gibbs patted her hair,

"He's a good man, he's a lucky man too." He replied, smiling back at her.

Meanwhile, Tony patted Tim on the back, and turned to face him,

"Congratulations Tim, really." And for the first time in the four years they had worked closely together Tony hugged him, like an older brother, Tim had never had.

The music began playing once again, and besides the congratulations Tim and Abby were receiving, things were basically back to normal.

Abby skipped away from the ball dance floor to grab them some drinks, and Tim settled into a seat. The tables were much like those of a school playground, the seats were long stainless steel planks, Tim sat on the end, facing away from the table, watching his co-workers.

Once again, he thought about how much easier work would be if everyone admitted their true feelings. He watched Gibbs, and Director Shepherd dancing flawlessly at the centre of the ballroom, she was smiling gracefully, and she slowly rested her head on his broad shoulder. Normally, Tim would have felt jealous of Gibbs charm, however now Tim realised that he had the woman of his dreams, and that he no longer needed to try to impress women, as his attempts would usually fail anyway.

The same could be said for Tony and Ziva, they were obviously in love, they just couldn't admit it, yet. They were also dancing together, but not in the romantic way of Gibbs and Director Shepherd, more like two friends, oblivious to each other.

Abby returned with two drinks in her hands, placing them on the table behind him. However, instead of sitting behind Tim, or on the other side of the table, she sat on his lap, facing toward him, and burying her face into his neck, gently kissing him.

Tim could not be tempted here, not now, too embarrassing.

"Not now Abbs." "You know how much I want to do this, but we can't here."

"Can I kiss you?" she asked sweetly into his ear. Tim caressed her face, and gently turned it back to his face. She moved into his lips, and they connected. Her tongue slipping in between his teeth, now caressing the roof of his mouth, a gentle sigh escaped her lips.

Tim tried to use his peripheral vision to check no one was watching them, no one watching, good, because the last thing he wanted to do right now was break away from her. Tim went to lie back on the seat, only to hit his head on something. He couldn't see what had hit him, since his eyes were still shut from kissing Abby. Only when he opened his eyes, he realised that something hadn't hit him, but someone. He had tried to lie down on Gibbs shoulder.

At any other time Gibbs would have yelled at Tim, and actually whacked him on the back of the head, however now was different,

"Oh, I'm interrupting, continue." He chuckled, and got up from the seat, and walked back over to Director Shepherd. Abby seemed unperturbed by Gibbs' interruption, and continued kissing Tim more passionately than before, forcing him to lie down, successfully this time.

Abby leaned in again, but Tim tilted his head to the side,

"Abbs, if we go any further we're both going to be fired!" he whispered to her, she giggled, and sat up, pulling Tim up by his tie.

"Good thing someone has some control." She giggled, an innocent smile crossed her lips. Abby got up from her seat, and skipped over to Tony and Ziva, while Tim watched Gibbs, and the Director. To everyone but them it was so obvious, they loved each other, maybe it was that Tim was hopelessly romantic, or maybe there really was something between them.

The Director seemed to be the only one who could make Gibbs laugh anymore, a charming smile filled his face, and he leaned towards her, she leaned in too, and their lips met. Tim's eyebrows raised, his jawing dropping, his life was unravelling like the fairytale he had always imagined.

They began to kiss more passionately, the Director's hands in Gibbs hair, and his hands around her waist, he grabbed her hand, and directed her out of the hall, away from people like Tim, who he had noticed to be watching them. As they were leaving, Tim could have sworn he saw Gibbs wink at him.

Almost simultaneously after they left, Abby returned,

"What happened, Timmy? You look like you saw a ghost!"

"Almost…" Tim replied, chuckling now, "Almost."

Abby's eyebrow was raised, "What did you see Timmy?"

"Gibbs, and the Director were…."

"Kissing! I know isn't it great!" She finished his sentence for him.

"Uh yeah, great." Tim was stunned, sure he was more happy for them than anyone else, but he was speechless, maybe he was dreaming, that would make more sense, but he didn't wake up, it was real.

"Do you want to leave Tim?" She asked sweetly, despite them being the 'guests of honour', it was so tempting to leave, especially knowing what would be in store when they got home…

"Sure, let's get outta here." He smiled cheekily, and they practically ran from the hall, and back to their apartment.

By the time they were home, they couldn't get their clothes off fast enough. Despite Abby being outrageously confident, Tim was still shy, and insecure, and too self conscious to stand naked in front of anyone, even Abby. So while Abby was in the bathroom, Tim sat on their bed in his boxers, feeling insecure enough.

When Abby walked out of the bathroom, Tim was expecting her to be wearing a towel, or well… nothing, she had done that before too. But she was wearing something absolutely beautiful to Tim, it was emerald green silk, it was like a promiscuous nightgown. It barely covered her nipples, and ended just below her hips, it was a masterpiece.

Tim felt himself harden as he watched her walk into their bedroom,

"You like it!" she giggled, and sat down on his lap, wrapping her legs around him, and kissing him passionately.

"How do you know that?" Tim chuckled darkly into her ear, she giggled, and they continued kissing. She pulled off his boxers, and Tim pulled the 'nightgown' off her pale, slim, beautiful body, Tim once again feeling that he did not deserve someone so beautiful, on the inside, and out. As she crawled towards him, he straddled her hips, and the night continued that way until the sun rose, and Abby fell asleep, her head resting on Tim's chest. He wouldn't change one thing in his life right now.


	6. Copycat

The day that followed was perfect, Tim was an obnoxiously confident mood as he walked to the elevator, only to run into the closed doors, normally this would considerably darken his mood considerably, but he was on top of the world today, stairs it is, he thought to himself, smile intact.

When Tim entered the squad room, Tony was standing in the dead centre, looking bored, and thoughtful, a look that was not often expressed on his face.

"You seen the Director today?"Tony asked him as soon as he spotted him. Tim shook his head puzzled, an awkward silence invaded.

"Where's Gibbs?" Tim asked him, to break the silence.

"Dunno, he went into the elevator about five minutes ago."

"Uh uh Tony, elevator's broken."

Suddenly they realised, Director's vanished, Gibbs is in the 'broken' elevator,

"Eeew!" Tony shuddered, "There IS some other explanation, isn't there Tim?" Tony's face disgusted, and concerned, Tim's face however was suppressing laughter, a cheeky grin made his face similar to a child.

They were both turned away from the elevator when they heard a 'ding', they swung around in synchrony, Gibbs and the Director both stepped out, and into the squad room, a satisfied smirk on Gibbs face, and a wide smile on the Director's.

Tony looked as though he were about to be sick, he shuddered again, and both Tim, and Tony ran for the elevator, someone had to tell Abby.

"HEY! Where the hell do you think you're goin'?" Gibbs yelled at them, so close they thought.

"We don't have a case boss." Tony replied hoping to still make it to the elevator.

"Jen… The Director and I managed to find a case for you to work on."

"Among other things…" muttered Tony under his breath. Tim rolled his eyes, and began walking back to his desk.

"In that case boss, coffee break?" Tony continued trying to make excuses to run from the mental images invading his occasionally twisted mind.

"Fine go! But get me one too!" He yelled, as Tony kept running toward the elevator.

"You've had enough stimulation today Gibbs…" he muttered again, and pressed the ground floor button repeatedly until the doors shut.

Tim was left alone with Gibbs and the Director, an incredibly awkward situation for him, especially considering that he knew where they had been for the last half hour. They stared at Tim, waiting for him to leave the squad room,

"I'm going to… umm, I'm just going…" he stuttered, and stumbled nervously out of the squad room, he knew that Tony would have actually gone for a coffee break now, since Gibbs ordered one as well, now it was Tim's duty to inform Abby.

The elevator doors opened, and Tim began walking towards Abby's lab when he was almost run over by Abby, she jumped onto him, and wrapped her legs around him playfully.

"Yay! The elevator's fixed. I've been stuck down here for hours!" She squealed.

"You could've used the stairs." He chuckled. A confused look crossed her face,

"Oh yeah…" she mumbled, still goofily smiling.

"You'll never guess what happened this morning!" Tim said, like a girl gossiping to all their friends.

"What, what, what!" she chided.

"The Director and Gibbs were, you know… doing it!" Abby's eyes widened,

"You saw them?"

"No! That's why the elevator was 'broken' Abbs!" She started to giggle, and whisper into Tim's ear,

"It doesn't sound like such a bad idea…" she whispered suggestively, and began kissing him, softly first, and then pressing against him, she backed him up against the wall unbuttoning his shirt.

The danger of someone entering the lab only heightened their experience, and once they were finished, he made sure there was no one around, and once cleared he jogged over to the elevator, his shirt still half unbuttoned. Only when the doors closed did Tim realise that Gibbs was leaning against the side panel, again.

"Can't believe that worked, again." Gibbs chuckled darkly.

"Neither can I." Tim rolled his eyes, forgetting about his half unbuttoned shirt.

"Tim, your shirt," he pointed, a sly smile took years from his face. Tim looked down, his face turning bright red.

"It's not… not what you… you think." He stuttered, his eyes wide with embarrassment and fright.


	7. Consideration

"Yeah it is Tim, but I don't want to be hypocritical." He smiled again, wider this time.

Tim looked up, into Gibbs eyes, "How did you know, that we knew?"

"Tony was speechless, and you, you actually genuinely looked happy for me."

"So you do love her?" Tim questioned, pushing the emergency stop button.

"I'm still not sure, but I'm definitely happy to be spending time with her again." Gibbs answered truthfully, Tim was grateful, as he knew that despite Gibbs telling him that all you would have to do is ask him, he knew that if Tony asked him, he wouldn't get a reply.

"You ever thought about havin' kids Tim?" Gibbs asked, staring at Tim as if he could see into his soul, but his eyes faraway.

"Umm not really, I was 25 when I first joined you guys, and ever since then, I've kind of just thought about pursuing this career, and not thinking about starting a family." "But I guess, I never thought that I would have a wife."

"Didn't you ever want a wife?" Gibbs questioned further, extending Tim's already heartfelt answer.

"I never thought I would be good enough for anyone, especially before I joined you guys." Tim was looking everywhere around elevator, except for at Gibbs.

"Didn't think _you _were good enough? I remember the first year, when you were working at Norfolk, but drove six hours to us, every time we wanted your help with something, you're a good person Tim, and don't ever forget that." Gibbs finished.

Gibbs hardly ever said anything, but when he actually talked openly, he was always truthful, and cared more than he ever let on.

"So that was then…" Gibbs continued, "What about now, you're engaged, soon to be married?"

Tim swallowed, thinking about starting a family, he wouldn't have to quit the job at NCIS, but he doubted that Abby would even consider the idea.

"I dunno, probably when I'm a bit older." He said, still unsure of where he would be in a few years time. He had always aspired to be like Gibbs when he was older, a highly regarded Special Agent, with his own team, and like Gibbs, no family. But now that he thought more on the subject, there was nowhere he would rather be. He loved working with Tony, Ziva, Abby, Ducky, Palmer, and yes even Gibbs. He wouldn't want his own team if it meant he wouldn't be able to spend time with these people.

Gibbs pressed the emergency button, and the elevator was restarted.

"So what's the new casing we're gonna be working Boss?" Tim asked, changing the conversation before the doors opened.

"Don't really have one Tim, kind of just wanted to get rid of the two of ya." He chuckled, his mood much lighter than normal.

Tim was pressed up against the side panel of the elevator when the doors opened, leaving only Gibbs visible. Tony was sitting at his desk, his feet resting on the computer keyboard, slowly drinking his coffee.

"Gibbs finally, another quickie?" Tony joked, pulling his feet off the desk. Gibbs rolled his eyes, and exited the elevator, followed by Tim, who had just appeared from the side of the elevator.

"Okay… probably not." Tony retracted his comment, still grinning cheekily.

Although Tony seemed his average, charismatic self, he was thinking, everyone is together now, Gibbs and the Director, Tim and Abby, the only two left were Ziva, and himself.

Out of everyone in the office, Tony and Ziva had always been the most likely to hook up, it was obvious to everyone, even them. Now, they were the only ones spending their nights alone.


	8. Wedding Plans

"Have you ever considered having kids Abbs?" Tim cautiously asked her, making it sound more like a query than an invitation.

"Yeah, all the time! Wait, why, have you been thinking about it too?" Abby asked, sparking many questions in Tim's head, she he had said 'too', she wants kids.

"Umm, actually Gibbs asked me…" Tim admitted, looking away from Abby.

"Well, what do you think?"

"I haven't really thought about it before." He said, worried about what Abby would think of a fiancé who hadn't thought about kids.

"I don't really want any yet. I couldn't stand being away from my lab." Abby admitted, they were both worried about the other wanting kids, when they both really wanted the same thing, more time.

"Well at least we feel the same way, besides we're getting married soon, wait when are we getting married?" Tim asked, his voice now worried, and questioning.

"How about next month?"Abby asked, trying to factor in invitations, cake, reservations, celebrant, dresses, etc.

"Wow Abbs, isn't that kind of… rushed?" Tim shot back, trying to avoid hurting the persistent and easily excitable Abby's feelings.

"No way! We can totally get the wedding ready in a month!" she sounded so excited, there was no way that Tim would get his way now.

"Okay, we'll make it the 6th of August, sound good?" Tim asked, enthusiastically now. He knew that Abby was happy with that date, it did not take Special Agent investigating skills to figure that out, and she was practically bouncing off the walls.

"When can we start planning? Now? Please say now!" Abby asked, well it didn't seem like a question, it was impossible to argue.

"Okay Tim. You take guest list, and I'll look for a dress!" she demanded, and jumped off their bed, and ran over to the computer, waiting impatiently for it to load.

Tim grabbed a pen and paper, and started by writing a heading, 'Our Wedding: Guest List' he had named it. 'Best Man:' he wrote, and paused, neither Tim nor Abby had brothers, or close male relatives, so obviously their 'second family' would be the obvious choice. Immediately Tim thought of Tony, who had been a big brother to him and most respects, but then he thought of Gibbs, his almost adopted father.

"Abbs, whose gonna be the best man?"

"Gib… Tony… oh no!" "Gibbs can be best man, and Tony can be flower… boy!" she giggled, knowing that Tony would not be bothered by this title or job.

"Right, as long as I get to tell him!" Tim chuckled back to Abby, as she gasped over the beautiful, yet expensive dresses on her screen. Surprisingly to Tim, the dresses were white, he had thought for sure it would be a very 'gothic' wedding.

Tim continued with his list, 'Bridesmaids: Ziva David, Sarah McGee, Jenny Shepherd' he wrote, he only wished that he could add Kate's name to that list, a single tear fell from his cheek onto the page, blurring some of the writing.

He still deeply missed Kate, as much as she had annoyed Tim, as well as Tony, when he joined NCIS, she had been an amazing friend to him. She was the only one who had been able to help him when he had not been able to save his girlfriend, Erin Kendall two years ago.

He disappeared Kate from his mind, and continued writing his list. The guest list was extensive, it was now that Tim realised that he was actually getting married, and that it wasn't just going to be a little party, but a ceremony, and a large one at that.

"Timmy! I found the perfect dress!" Abby squealed from the study. Tim leaped up from his bed, and jogged over to the computer, it was stunning. It was white with red studs as an embellishment,

"Wowww!" he stuttered, the dress alone was beautiful, let alone Abby wearing it, wow… he thought again.

"I really think we've done enough wedding stuff tonight." Tim said suggestively, taking Abby's hand, and gently stroking it. She giggled, and jumped out of her seat, and assaulted his lips, her tongue tracing the inside of his mouth.

"Wanna get a head start on the honeymoon part…" she whispered erotically into his ear.


	9. Bestest Man

The days following passed in a blur, they were busy with organising the wedding, everything had been easy, the most worrying moment was approaching though, asking Gibbs to be the Best Man, how would Tim ask when the man had been married three, wait four times.

He had decided, he would ask Gibbs at work that day, well if there was a time when they were alone, which was always doubtful, finally there was an opportunity.

When Tim exited the elevator, he looked over to the squad room, finding Gibbs alone, madly scribbling at a piece of paper.

"Ahh, Gibbs…" Tim mumbled as he approached Gibbs' desk.

"Yeah Tim?"

"Umm you know how Abbs and I are getting married…"

"Well yeah Tim, you did tell me a couple hundred times."

"Well I was wondering, if well, you wanted to be the Best Man, but, umm if you don't that's, umm fine." Tim stuttered, sighing after making his announcement

A lone tear streamed down Gibbs cheek, and a grin lit up his face, Tim knew that he thought of Abby as a daughter, and was both happy, and proud of Tim for being the one to steal her heart.

"I thought you'd ask DiNozzo, you seem… closer to him." Gibbs mumbled, Tim knew how hard it was for Gibbs to express emotion, especially in such a public setting.

"But it would be an honour Tim." He finished.

"Well, although Tony is a really good friend, you've been like the role model father that I never had, and I know Abby feels the same."

Another tear fell from the usually strong, stoic leader as he stood, patting Tim on the back, and walking away, Tim understood that Gibbs would not let another tear fall in front of him, or anyone else for that matter.

Tony and Ziva were out on the field, so he decided to see the Director, a bridesmaid. He had never been particularly close to Jenny, but knew that she would be thrilled by the gesture.

He skipped up the stairs to her office, jogging past her receptionist,

"Don't go in there! She's with Gi…" she tried to tell him, however he either did not hear her, or just wasn't listening, and barged into her office. He looked around the room for the director, maybe she was not there, until he looked to the corner of the room, she was pushed up against the wall by Gibbs, who was shirtless, and they were passionately kissing, among other things.

"Oh God!" he mumbled, and shut the door before they realised he was there.

"I tried to warn you!" the receptionist giggled, as Tim retreated quickly from the Director's office. When Tim was back at the squad room, Tony and Ziva had returned from the field.

"Are you okay McGee, you look like you have seen a goat?" Ziva questioned, causing Tony to burst into laughter.

"Ghost, like he's seen a ghost." He chuckled. Ziva sighed, and nodded.

"Gibbs, and the Director are, you know, in her office." Tim admitted, Tony and Ziva's faces souring,

"Eeew!" They said in synchronicity, looking at each other oddly.

"Wait… how do you know Probie?" Tony asked, one eyebrow rising.

"Well, I kind of walked in, and they…." Tim began, his facing paling as he remembered what he had seen.

Tony's expression was somewhere between disgust, and hilarity, before starting to laugh hysterically.

"We should feed it into MTAC!" Tony suddenly chuckled.

"We would not have to Tony, the televisions are perfectly capable here… oh my!" Ziva said, before realising that Tony actually would.

"Well who's gonna yell at us Ziva? Gibbs, the Director, they can't!"

Before Tim even knew what was happening, Tony had patched the camera from the Director's office to the plasma screen, and the three of them, were both watching, mesmerised as their Boss made love to their Boss's Boss.

"Tony, what the hell? You're gonna get us fired!" Tim yelled.

"Tony, you are very sad!" Ziva stated, walking away from the plasma screen, leaving Tim and Tony staring at the screen, looks of disgust on their faces.

"So why were you going to see the Director?" Tony tried to ask normally, despite the strange circumstances.

"Oh umm, I was gonna ask her to be a bridesmaid." He said without thinking. "Oh, that reminds me, you're gonna be flower boy." He was still unable to laugh.

"Ha-ha, cute, I like it!" Tony grinned, which quickly changed to a grimace, as he continued to watch Gibbs.

"One of us should really turn this off…" Tim said quickly, deciding it was time to stop this train wreck.

"Yes. One of us definitely should!" Tony replied, yet neither moved. The plasma went blank, and Tony and Tim both awoke from their trance, turning to face Ziva, who had disappeared from her desk, and was standing, plasma screen power point twirling in her hand,

"Well 'one of you' was not going to do it!" she said with a grimace.

"I can't believe what I just saw…" Tim said, still stunned.

"I can't believe how big…" Tony began, before being cut off by Ziva,

"I can't believe the boars I work with!" she said with conviction.

"You can't believe the PIGS you work with Ziva!"

"Exactly!" she said, and walked out of the squad room.

"It was kinda hot though…" Tony said, grinning.

"You really are disturbed!" Tim mumbled, and followed Ziva, leaving Tony alone, still grinning like an idiot.

By the time Gibbs had arrived back in the Squad Room, Tony, Tim, and Ziva were all seated at their desks, all pretending to work, and trying their very hardest not to look suspicious, to no avail.

Gibbs went to sit at his desk, realising they were all staring at him, except for Tim who was staring, wide eyed at the unplugged plasma.

"Why is the plasma screen unplugged?" Gibbs asked, glaring at Tim, hoping he would crack.

"Umm, it's umm, it's not working." He stuttered.

"Well yeah Tim! That's probably _because _it's unplugged!" Gibbs said matter-of-a-factly.

He jumped out of his seat, and plugged the power point into the adaptor. The television lit up, and returned to the feed into the director's office.

"Oh Shit!" Gibbs whispered to himself, "Someone EXPLAIN THIS!" he yelled.

"It was McGee!" Tony yelled, and ran out of the room.

"Ziva! Explain." He yelled in her direction now.

"McGee walked in on you and the Director, and told Tony, and Tony did… that!" she explained, and pointed at the plasma screen.

"Tim, with me NOW!" He yelled at McGee, and signalled for him to enter the elevator. As soon as it began to move, he smacked the emergency stop, and slapped Tim up the back of his head, probably the hardest he ever had.

"Never! I mean never tell Tony about us!"

"I know, I'm sorry Boss, and when I saw you two, you were only kissing, that's all I told Tony, you'd just… progressed by the time he had patched it onto the plasma, and he did force it out of me." Tim said trying to act innocent; it wasn't something he was bad at, as he usually was.

"In that case, sorry Tim, but _never_ betray my trust like that again, or I'll take your badge!" his voice increasing in volume. Tim was nodding, still looking like an innocent twelve year old.

Gibbs pushed the emergency stop again, and the elevator sighed as it restarted.

"Where are we going?" Tim asked confused.

"_I_ am going to visit the Director, and you, are going back to the squad room, and you are…"

"Not going to tell them. Got it boss." Tim tried to finish his sentence.

"I was gonna say to work, but yeah, don't tell 'em." Gibbs said, leaving the elevator, and jogging past the Director's receptionist.

"I need a nutter butter!" Tim sighed to himself, and pressed the down button on the elevator.


	10. All Good Things Come to an End

"Where'd Gibbs go?"Tony asked when Tim returned from the vending machine.

"Coffee." Tim lied inconspicuously, and walked over to Ziva's desk.

"Ziva, I was wondering." Tim began.

"Yes McGee?"

"If you'd like to be a bridesmaid at my wedding." He grinned, and Ziva beamed back at him,

"Yes, I would love to!" She jumped out of her seat, and gave Tim a hug,

"Thank You, Tim."

This was possibly the first time Ziva had ever called him by his first name, Tim was ecstatic.

It was not long before Gibbs returned, sprinting into the room,

"Gear up! We got a possible suicide!" He said, and undertone of satisfaction was hidden well in his demanding voice.

It was just under an hour when they arrived at a large, abandoned warehouse. They all piled out of the car,

"You sure this is the right place Boss… it's a warehouse." Tony said, laughing.

"I'm not blind DiNozzo."

"That's debatable!" Tony grinned.

"Okay everyone! There's a guy in there, extremely upset, threatening to pull the trigger if everyone doesn't leave, and we're not leaving, so be careful."

Gibbs walked slowly, and cautiously into the warehouse, signalling for the others to do the same. Tony and Ziva moved stealthily in behind a stack of boxes on either side of the room, providing cover for Gibbs, as he continued to walk closer to the distraught man.

Tim was forced to gain cover from a stack of boxes much closer to the man, thankfully reaching cover before the man looked up.

"GET OUT!" The man shouted, Gibbs slowed but did not leave, or even step backward.

"I SAID GET…" He yelled again, only to be cut off by Gibbs,

"Yeah, I heard ya the first time, I'm not going anywhere. I'm Special Agent Gibbs." He explained to the jittery man.

"I don't care who you are, but if you don't leave I'm going to pull the trigger!" the man said, calming down slightly, rocking back and forth.

"Are you alone?" Gibbs asked him.

"Are you?" he asked back. Gibbs nodded.

"Cos you better not be lying to me!" he continued.

"Okay fine. I have one backup." Gibbs answered, trying to gain the man's trust.

"WHEREVER YOU ARE, SHOW YOURSELF!" The man yelled, yet none of the Agent's moved from behind their stack of boxes.

"Agent McGee!" Gibbs yelled, figuring that McGee looked the least menacing of his agents.

Tim stood, and moved beside the stack of boxes, he had been taking cover behind.

"This is your only backup?" The man asked again.

"Yes." Gibbs replied convincingly.

The man took his gun to his head, when suddenly he swung his arm around, and pulled the trigger, hitting Tim in the chest, he instantly fell to the floor, grasping at his chest, and coughing loudly, but no one could help him, Tony and Ziva could not move, they would be shot too, Gibbs pulled his gun out of the holster, and shot the man right between the eyes.

Tony was calling 911, and Ziva had sprinted out from behind her box, over to Tim who was losing too much blood, he was surely going to die.

"Tell… Abby… I love… her." Tim stuttered to Tony, who was now kneeling beside him, trying to stop the blood.

"NO! You're not going to die, you have too much to live for. You hear me?" Tony yelled, but Tim had stopped breathing. He administered CPR, demanding Tim to stay with him,

"Tim, no! Don't give up! You're not allowed to die!"He yelled to Tim's blood soaked, lifeless body. Tony's face was drained of any colour, and he turned to look at Gibbs, tears drenching both of their faces.

Giving up, Tony turned from his body, hugging Gibbs, forgetting the barriers which usually pulled them away from one another. Suddenly, a loud wheeze escaped the body of their 'fallen' friend, and he began to cough.

"Help…" he whispered. The EMT's arrived momentarily.

"Sir, sir can you hear me?" They yelled at Tim's limp body.

"Ye…" he whispered, shaking uncontrollably.

"Try to stay as still as you can sir."

Tim's body became rigid, tensed, to cease the shaking. Tony couldn't believe the strength Tim had in situations such as these.

He remembered back to the last time his friend had fought death, winning every round, spurred on by the love of his life, Abby, where was she? He wondered.

Ironically, she had just arrived on the scene, and was standing over Tim, gently patting his hair. She looked up, after hearing a clicking noise, only to be confronted by a gun pointing directly at her forehead, and then a shot, she barely had to time to recognise the inevitable, before she knew it she was on the ground, she was seconds from death.

Gibbs immediately pulled his gun out of the holster, and the bastard was dead.

"Bastard wasn't committing suicide, it was a ploy to get us here!" he yelled, Tim was still completely unaware of what had happened, and did not realise the dead body of his fiancée beside him.

The EMT's moved Tim quickly, knowing how much pain it would cause him to see Abby next to him. He was carried into the ambulance, and another was called to take his Abby to the morgue, where Ducky would be forced to perform an autopsy on.

Gibbs was waiting by Abby's side, holding her lifeless, pale hand, his face broken, why did all of the women in his life have to die. Shannon, Kelly, Kate, and now his 'daughter' Abby, were all dead.

Despite being shook to the core by the death of Abby, Tony could not be anywhere but with Tim, his 'brother in arms'.

He shuffled into the ambulance, and stood over Tim.

"What's wrong, what happened?" Tim asked, now worrying about the disappearance of Gibbs.

"Abby, Abby was shot Tim." Tony said calmly, and sternly, holding Tim's hand firmly.

"NO!" Tim cried, "No! She can't be dead. No! I should have died, not her. No. You're lying. She's not dead!" He was yelling now, sobs wracking through his words.

"I'm sorry Tim, if it's any consolation; I'm here for you, no matter what." Tony said back to Tim, this may have been the first time Tony had expressed his care and concern for his team mate of four years.

Tim squeezed Tony's hand back,

"I loved her Tony."

"I know Tim, I know."

"No Tony, you have no idea, she's like no one I've ever met before."

"I'm sorry Tim."


	11. Finally

Tony sat beside Tim in the ambulance, as the EMT's loaded in, along with Ziva, whose eyes, usually solid steel were melting for both the loss of Abby, the always effervescent, cheerful forensic scientist, and the near death of Abby's fiancée, and almost a brother to Ziva.

Ziva and Tony held hands, and sat huddled, they're other arms intertwined.

"This is probably the worst possible time to tell you this, but Ziva, I love you." Tony whispered into her ear. A sharp intake of breath caused Tony to shake nervously,

"Finally, you said it." She whispered back to him.

"I have always loved you Ziva."

"I know Tony, as I have loved you."

They both well knew that this was not the right time to begin passionately kissing, so they hugged, and planted a simple kiss on each other's cheek.

When the ambulance arrived at the hospital, Tim was fully awake, and trying to fight the immense pain taking hold of his body, while Tony and Ziva watched, unable to help him.

Tim's muffled whimpers mimicked an injured puppy, evoking an empathetic reaction in Tony and Ziva, who were now seated opposite him in a hospital room, waiting for him to be taken to surgery.

"I know its hard Tim." Tony sighed, and walked over to the bed, patting him on the arm in a brotherly manner.

Ziva slowly stood up from her seat, and walked to Tony, just to be with him, beside him, together. They held hands, and Ziva leaned over and pecked him once on the lips.

"It's about freakin' time!" Tim whispered, Tony and Ziva facing him again now.

As happy Tim was for the two of them, it ripped at his heart, the love of his life was dead, he would never see her again, never be able to kiss her, or laugh with her, he could never be with her again.

Tim still had not fully contemplated the true implications of Abby's death, and despite the twisted sadness he felt in the pit of his stomach, the tears would not come, he was still deeply in shock.

"We have to take him into surgery now. If you two could just wait in the waiting room, please."

Tony and Ziva obliged, leaving Tim's room, and walking outside, and sat on a bench, right beside the emergency ward.

"Why do people we love keep dying Tony?" Ziva whispered to her love, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Every time we come into work there's a chance that we won't come back." Tony whispered back.  
"Kate told me that the day she died." He continued, tears filling his eyes, threatening to spill over.

Though Ziva had never met Kate, she had always felt terrible about her death. She had eventually become Kate's replacement, but she had thought that Gibbs, and even Tony would never care for her, as they did for Kate.

Night fell, and Tony and Ziva were willing to wait as long as it takes to see Tim when he got out of surgery. Ziva fell asleep not long after sunset, Tony moved her, so that her head was resting in his lap, and he calmly patted he hair, unable to sleep himself.

Tony was almost asleep when his phone rang in his pocket, causing Ziva to awake as well. She pulled his phone out of his pocket, and held it to his ear.

"Hello. Yes. Ziva and I will be right in. Thank you so much Doctor."Tony shut the phone, and helped Ziva to get up, and they walked together to Tim's room.

"The surgery went well apparently." Tony whispered to Ziva, trying to brighten her mood.

"That's good." She replied, Tony kissed her hair, and squeezed her arm.

"Love you." He whispered, and a slight smile crept onto her face.

When they arrived at Tim's room, Gibbs was standing over Tim, crying. Tim couldn't be dead, no the operation had gone well, he wasn't dead. Tony knocked before entering the room; he knew how Gibbs felt about people seeing him cry.

"Yeah, enter." He said, his voice cracking between words. He stood opposite Tony, crying openly,

"I need to talk to you. You can tell Ziva."Gibbs instructed, and pulled Tony gently out of the room.

"What's wrong Boss… besides what I already know?"

"I just got off the phone with Ducky, he's finished the autopsy."

"And?"

"Abby was pregnant, it was Tim's."

"Oh God!" Tony whispered, and began to sob uncontrollably. Gibbs wrapped an arm around him, and escorted him outside. They sat on the same bench Tony had been seated at with Ziva less than ten minutes before.

"Does Tim know?" Tony asked, trying to hold back the inevitable tears.

"No. He's asleep."

"Can I tell him, I don't want to put that responsibility on you, Boss?"

"Go for it. But do it tactfully, he's broken already." Gibbs called, as Tony marched back through the doors of the hospital. He jogged through the halls, considering thoroughly how to tell his best friend that his dead fiancée was carrying his baby.

He burst through the door of Tim's room, and over to Ziva, who was seated, crying into her hands.

"Ziva, could you leave for a second?" Tony asked, she nodded and pulled herself out of her seat, while Tony walked over to Tim's bed.

"Ducky finished the Autopsy…"Tony started, Tim's eyes filling up with tears.

"And, what's wrong?" Tim whimpered.

"Abby was, well she was pregnant."

Tim gasped, his eyes spilling over, and lay in the hospital bed crying broken, uncontrollable tears.

"It was mine?" Tim asked, trying his hardest not to seem weak in front of his friend.

"Yes. I'm sorry Tim." Tony moved Tim slightly, and sat beside him on the hospital bed. "I'm gonna help you through this." He said, looking into Tim's eyes, and put an arm around his broken friend.

"When do I get to go home?" Tim cried.

"Soon Tim, you think you'll be fine on your own?"

"No, but I've got no one _to _be with." Tim raked his fingers through his hair.

"You can come bunk with me for a while if you like." Tony offered with a kind smile.

"No! I'll be fine." He almost yelled. Tony could see that he was only trying to be strong.


	12. Unstable

Tim was released from hospital three days later, and despite the guidance of hospital staff, he was returning to his apartment, alone.

Tony dropped him off, and Tim stood, staring at the apartment door, the memories would haunt him for as long as he decided to stay.

He turned the key, and walked into the entrance of his home, it was too much, he couldn't handle it. Walking quickly to his bedroom, he pulled his gun out of the holster, and locked the door.

Sitting cross-legged on his bed, he held the SIG to his head. He remembered the first time he met Abby; he had changed immensely since then. He was four years older, with an equivalent of twenty years of near death experiences, pain, and grief, but he had also gained the best, and most exciting moments from his few years at NCIS.

His hand was vigorously shaking, as he contemplated his choices, or lack thereof. He began to cry again, and though still deciding, his finger slipped on the trigger. He waited for the impending death, but nothing happened.

Maybe I'm already dead, maybe this is hell, Tim thought, as he pulled the trigger again, nothing. Suddenly, his bedroom door flew open, and Tony walked in.

"I took the bullets out, it was just precautionary, but I can't believe you were actually gonna do it Tim! You can't just take the cowards way out, pack your stuff, you're movin' in with me." Tony practically yelled.

"No! I'm staying here!" Tim yelled back, a surprising amount of venom in his tone. But there was no deterring Tony, he grabbed a suitcase from Tim's wardrobe, and started shoving all of his clothes into it.

"If you stay here, you'll just try something else, a knife, a letter opener, hell you could use your writing pipe if you were desperate enough!"

"Fine." Tim whispered, unable to argue with his 'almost brother', and began helping him to pack.

"What's gonna stop me from doin' it at your place?" Tim asked.

"Me!" Tony replied, a slight smile crept onto the corner of his mouth.

"So, you and Ziva huh?"

"Yeah, I finally got the guts to tell her."

"It's great Tony, I only wish Abby was around to share the moment." Tim began to sob again at the sound of her name.

Tony stopped packing Tim's possessions, and sat beside his friend, putting an arm around his shoulders, as Tim turned his head, and cried openly on Tony's shoulder.

"We were just about to get married, and she was pregnant, I mean we were gonna be a family…" he whimpered, Tony simply nodded, as a single tear trickled down the side of his face.

"C'mon, we gotta get you outta this place." Tony sighed, pulling Tim up with him. They soon finished packing, and were out on the road. Despite Tony frequently breaking into Tim's apartment, Tim had never seen Tony's apartment

He tailed Tony in his car, trying to concentrate on driving, considering that if he crashed, he would achieve the goal he had been trying for, when putting the gun to his head.

"Abby wouldn't want me to give up." He whispered to himself, her name alone evoking tears in his pained, tortured eyes. He was actually glad to arrive at Tony's apartment; there was no longer a risk of him deciding to end it all.

"I'm proud of ya Tim." Tony said, and guided him to the apartment.

"Why?"

"You didn't try to kill yourself when you were driving here."

"I considered it."

"Oh… but you didn't do it, so I'm still proud of ya." Tim smiled slightly at Tony's encouragement.

Hospitality was an understatement for that day, Tony was polite, and considerate, which are two traits he rarely demonstrates, especially towards Tim.

Tony's apartment was nothing like Tim had expected, no dirty socks, no pants strewn across the floor, Tim was actually impressed. The floor was some kind of wood, polished though, seemingly upper class.

His furniture was classy, and modern, and noticeably expensive, especially the kitchen. Tim was jealous of Tony, his friend had everything, good looks, a beautiful girlfriend, an amazing home, lots of money, and an amazing job.

And the thing that made him so jealous wasn't that he would never have some of these things, but that he used to. He had been so close to marriage, with the woman he truly loved, to having a family even. He thought about one day, having his own team, just like Gibbs, his mentor, his father figure.

However, whenever Tim thought about having his own team recently, he hated the idea, he was an important cog, in the well oiled machine, that is 'Team Gibbs'.

Tim looked down into his hands, finding the ring on his finger; he sighed, and remembered back to the night of the proposal.

He didn't care about the attention he received, or the drinks he was constantly shouted, it was that they were official, they were in love, and they always would be, at least that was the idea.


	13. Vanished

As he sat silently sobbing, head in his hands, Tony watched him from the kitchen area. Though mourning himself, Tony was much more worried about the mental state his 'brother' was in.

"Do you want anything Tim?" Tony asked quietly, though still loud enough to be heard.

Tim's body tensed,

"No." Escaped from between gritted teeth.

Tony walked over to the couch where Tim was tearing himself apart, and sat beside him, putting a comforting arm around his shoulders.

"Look Tim, I know how much you loved her…"

"NO TONY! Actually, you have no idea how much I love her!"

"You mean loved…" Tony instantly corrected.

Tim pushed the arm away from him, "NO, I MEAN LOVE, I'M NOT GOING TO STOP LOVING HER JUST BECAUSE SHE'S DEAD!" He yelled, and a stream of tears flowed down his face.

This was the first time Tim had ever yelled at Tony, finally stood up for himself.

"I'm sorry Tim, I miss her too, and yeah, I know it's going to be way harder for you, but that's why you're at my house, and not dead, I'm going to get you through this!" Tony was much more intelligent, and caring than he seemed, and Tim couldn't shut him out, after all, he was going through the same thing.

"I'm sorry Tony; it just should've been me!" Tim cried, turning towards Tony.

Tony gulped loudly before deciding to reply, "Tim, the attack wasn't on the team as such, it was on Abby." Tim shook his head vigorously, and was about to open his mouth, but no words came.

"Michael Mauher." Tony whispered, Tim shuddering.

"No, he's in jail, impossible." Tim whispered back, shaking his head.

"Well it wasn't Michael; it was his brother Jamie, trying to 'finish what his little bro started'." Tony sighed, trying once more to put his arm around Tim, a coping mechanism, a brotherly gesture.

Three days later, and Tony and Tim arrived at Abby's funeral, Tim was trying to appear strong, and emotionless through the service, which he had pulled off successfully until it was his turn to speak.

"This was an amazing a woman, caring, compassionate, beautiful, funny, and most importantly, the happiest Goth you will ever meet." He had said in a strong, manly voice, until a moment where it dawned on him again, he would never see her again.

"She will be dearly missed." He declared tears flowing down his face, although trying to wipe them away, it was obvious, she would never be replaced, she was the one and only for Timothy McGee.

After the service, almost all guests had departed, leaving Tony, Gibbs, and Tim standing in front of the coffin.

"She always wanted open casket, what happened?" Tim asked, composed now.

"M.E asked that the casket be closed." Gibbs whispered.

"But didn't Ducky do the autopsy?"

"Actually yeah, he was the M.E."

"Why would he do that, he knows what Abby wanted?" Tim almost screamed.

"I dunno Tim, but I'm not leaving without seeing her one more time." Gibbs decided, handing Tim a crowbar.

"Why do you have a crowbar?" Tony asked one eyebrow raised, detecting Gibbs stare, and an oncoming head slap,

"Never mind." Tony backtracked.

Tim levered the coffin open, and jumped back, pale as a ghost.

"What Tim?" Gibbs asked, both him and Tony were turned away from the coffin.

"There's… there's nothing… nothing… in… there…. It's… bricks." He stammered.

Tony and Gibbs turned quickly and approached the coffin, no body, just concrete bricks.

"Then where the hell is Abby." Gibbs wondered aloud.

"Come on Tim, Tony, we're going to visit Ducky." Gibbs announced, helping Tim off the cold ground.

The trip could have taken an eternity for all that Tim knew, he was silent and still for the entire trip to Ducky's house, staring out of the fogged up window.

They finally came to a stop outside Ducky's huge, old English mansion-like house.

Tim and Tony stood eagerly behind Gibbs, who had also not spoken a word since leaving the cemetery.

Gibbs rang his doorbell, and after a minute or so of listening to the loud yapping of Welsh corgi's Ducky answered the door.

"Jethro! How nice to see… what's wrong?" Ducky asked.

"Well aside from the death of one of my best friends, and a girl that I thought of as a daughter, where is she?" Gibbs tried to stay calm, under the circumstances.

"What on Earth do you mean Jethro, she was in the casket."

"NO, no Dr Mallard, she was not, now tell us where she is!" Gibbs was getting heated, and was taking deep breaths, his nostrils flared.

"Jethro, I am afraid you will have to talk to the director about that."

Tim stomped in front of Gibbs, and was towering over Ducky, "No! Tell us what you know! WHERE IS MY FIANCEE?" He yelled.

"I can't tell you." Ducky said quietly, and shut the door in Tim's face.

Tim went to kick the door down, he was so mad, but Gibbs grabbed him by the waist, and pulled him away.

"Director Vance better have a freakin' good reason for this!" Gibbs growled, and let go of Tim, slightly pushing him into the car.


	14. Reassigned

When they arrived at the Director's house, it was late afternoon, yet Tim had only calmed slightly since his outburst at Ducky's home. If he could do this to Ducky, who he had, and truly still did consider a great friend, then what would he do to a man who he had never bothered to built a repour with.

Gibbs knocked on Vance's door, waiting only a few seconds before the Director himself pulled the door open, and was confronted by three sullen, confused, and most of all, angry looking agents.

"Where is Abby?" Gibbs asked calmly.

"Sorry?" Vance replied, trying to look confused, and in an almost convincing manner.

"Let me rephrase that. Where the HELL is Abby?" Gibbs replied, now yelling.

The Director wore a concentrating expression, Tim lurched forward, but Tony put his arm out in front of him, of course Tim could have shoved past him, but he knew that he had done enough damage, now he needed answers.

"Come in, I need to let you boys in on something." Vance said quietly, after deciding Gibbs would not stop until he knew the truth.

Tim was forced to sit furthest from the Director to prevent any outburst he may have, of course who could blame him, a man finds the courage to attend, and speak at his soon-to-be-wife's funeral, then when wishing to see her one last time, realises that she's not in the coffin, and now no one bothers to tell him where his fiancée is.

"Well, hurry up, where is Abby!" Tim growled at the Director, Tim's attitude to his co-workers, and even his superiors had been far out of character, he had changed from the nerdy seeming MIT grad, to a strong man, unable to control his anger, and disregard for the rules.

Vance just stared at Tim for about a minute, and finally spoke up, "She has been temporarily reassigned."

"WHAT!" Tim yelled, jumping out of his seat, and balling his hands into tight fists. Gibbs could easily tell Tim was not going to just stand there, and quickly walked over to him, but he was too late, Tim jumped over the coffee table, and punched Vance square in the face.

Tony was shocked, if it weren't under the terrible circumstances, he would have laughed, but this was Tim, normally he wouldn't hurt a fly… normally.

Gibbs pulled Tim back, there was nothing but fear in his eyes, he didn't even know what he was doing. He was breathing loudly, slightly unclenching his fists,

"It's okay Tim." Gibbs whispered to him, in a convincing, yet fatherly way. In an uncharacteristic manner, Gibbs pulled Tim into a hug, and Tim began to sob quietly,

"Let the Director talk, maybe he will be able to make sense next time he opens his mouth." Gibbs said loud enough for Vance to hear, and turned to face him.

The Director seemed surprisingly nonchalant for someone who had just been punched, hard, in the face.

"I'm sorry, I know this must be a shock, but Abigail Sciuto, is alive." Vance said calmly.

"A shock? Really? A shock? Do you have ANY idea how many tears I have shed over her, and now you think it might be a bit of a shock to discover she's ALIVE!" Tim yelled.

"Like I said Agent McGee, I am sorry for not telling you, but this is a highly classified mission; Ducky, Abigail, and I are the only people in this agency that are aware of this mission."

"So what mission is this exactly?" Tony asked, suddenly reanimated from his shocked state.

"Ms Sciuto has been put undercover in a chemical processing company which is highly corrupt, and is trying to create, and manufacture a chemical more potent, and deadly than poison."

"Alright, but why is SHE there, she's not even an agent?" Tony asked, in a more demanding tone.

"They needed a scientist, highly qualified, and we needed to stage her death as the checks of her identity would be thorough, and we could not risk them realising that their main scientist was secretly working for a federal agency.

"BUT YOU COULDN'T TELL ME?" Tim yelled

"I'm sorry McGee; I could not risk telling anyone."

"When's she coming home?" Tony asked.

"Three months." Vance said quickly, avoiding eye contact.

"Well what about Jamie Mauher?"

"A cover story Agent DiNozzo, the only Jamie Mauher in Washington is a four year old girl." Vance said, chuckling slightly.

"Ducky said Abby was pregnant, why in hell would you get him to tell me that?" Tim asked, more questions piling up in his head.

"She is, Agent McGee, she wanted Ducky to tell you, you're going to be a father." Vance said, smiling politely at the man who had recently punched him and yelled at him profusely.

It took a minute for the words to register in Tim's head, but when they did, it all fit, the love of his life wasn't dead, and she would be back in three months, they were going to be parents in less than a year, Tim smiled.

Tony jumped out of his seat, and hugged Tim, "Congratulations bro, but you're still staying with me until she gets back." Tony and Tim were grinning widely.

"I'm so sorry Director." Tim said apologetically,

"I would have done the same Tim." Vance smiled, and patted Tim on the back.

Gibbs signalled for Tony and Tim to leave the room, and they walked back out to the car, pushing each other playfully.

"You have no idea what harm you _nearly _caused him." Gibbs almost yelled at Vance.

"There was nothing I could do Gibbs."

"Sure there was Leon. He tried to kill himself, I remember doing the same when I found out about Shannon and Kelly, it's a wonder he didn't try and kill ya himself."

"That what you did Gibbs?" Vance questioned.

"You've read the report Leon." Gibbs answered, and strolled casually from Vance's house, and out to the car.

"What was that about Boss?" Tony asked grinning.

"Just letting him know what he did." Gibbs said who was now smiling too.

"I'm gonna get in shape." Tim said, staring out the window.

"You've already lost a heap of weight from when you radiation poisoning Tim." Tony said tactlessly.

"Yeah but you guys are like, buff, and I'm sick of being … all nerdy."

"Gibbs isn't that buff." Tony chuckled, earning a hard head slap.

"Ow!" Tony squealed, rubbing the back of his head.

"ALRIGHT! Gibbs is pretty buff!" Tony admitted, Gibbs smiling slightly.

"Nah, I want to do it for Abby too, I want to be perfect for her." Tim chuckled, still staring out the window.

"Speaking of buff!" Tony flexed his biceps.

"Would you like another head slap DiNozzo!"

"Sorry Boss."


	15. Phone Call

"So, little Timmy's gonna be a Daddy" Tony chuckled from the back seat, nudging at Tim.

"I could swear you were about twelve DiNozzo." Gibbs chuckled, shaking his head.

"Oh come on Boss, twelve and a half!" Tony complained. Despite the babble in the background of Tim's mind, he could not stop thinking about the tiny insecurities, the small flaws in the Director's cover story, these tiny clues that he should have figured out.

Tim was so frustrated with himself for not uncovering the plan earlier,

'I could have looked up Jamie Mauher, could have checked if Michael even had a brother, I would have figured it out, I nearly killed myself, what if I had, Abby would have had to raise my kid all by herself, oh God!'

Tim thought, only when Tony, and Gibbs turned around and stared at him did he realise he had said all that out loud.

"But you didn't kill yourself Tim, and that takes strength, I went through the same thing when Shannon and Kelly were killed." Gibbs admitted, which was a surprise, for their strong leader to admit something so personal to him, and even to Tony.

"Without Mike Franks I wouldn't be alive today." Gibbs whispered, only just loud enough for them to hear.

It was then that Tim realised, Tony was like Mike Franks, and he was like Gibbs. Despite being trained by Gibbs, Tony was his real mentor, the one who called him Probie, and gave him real direction.

"Without Tony, I wouldn't be alive today." Tim whispered, and Tony smiled widely, and patted Tim on the back.

"Then this would probably be a good time to tell you Tim, I threw your writing pipe out the window." Tony admitted, still smiling.

"TONY!"

"But I saved your life!" Tony argued.

Tim just stared at him, and rolled his eyes like a hopeless teenager. He soon reverted back to staring out the window, life just seemed clearer now, like a blind man who could now see. In three months he would be reunited with the love of his life, his one and only Abby.

When he had first heard that it would be three months, he was grateful, instead of never seeing her again, she would be with him again in ninety- two days. But now that he thought about things, that would be a long time to be without Abby, he was going to miss her like crazy.

They finally arrived at Tony's apartment, and Gibbs shooed them out of his car, huge grin lighting up his aging face.

"HA!" Tony guffawed.

"What?" Tim thought that he may as well take the bait set by Tony.

"You have to go without sex for three months!" Tony chuckled

"Yeah Tony I do, but I'd wait a million years just to hold Abby in my arms."

"That's nice Tim, that's really nice, but there's no way I could do it." Tony said genuinely, ceasing the cheesy grin on his face.

"Yeah I guess it'll be kinda annoying." Tim admitted.

"Channel your inner nerd Tim." Tony chuckled.

"As hard as it is to say Tim, you've inspired me, I'm gonna stick with Ziva, for as long as she'll stay with me." Tony said intelligently, surprise was an understatement for Tim, it seemed like Tony was actually in love with someone, and at least it was Ziva.

"Oh I am so not listening to you two… no, definitely not." Tim almost yelled at Tony.

Tony just laughed, and Tim couldn't help but join in, it was an amazing feeling to be able to laugh again, to be truly happy.

"RING RING!" Tim's phone almost screamed from his pocket, he instinctively picked it up out of his pocket and answered it.

"Special Agent Timothy McGee." He said formally.

"OH Timmy!" Was squealed through the phone, it was Abby, she was planning to tell him everything.

"Abby, I've missed you so much, and I thought you were dead, but then the Director told us, and oh God, I love you so much!"

"I love you too Tim, when I had to pretend to be dead in front of Gibbs I nearly got up and just hugged him, and I couldn't check if you were gonna survive."

"Where are you Abbs, I want to come and see you?" Tim pleaded.

"I have orders not to tell you where, and don't worry about the baby, I'm only doing theoretical science, not working with the actual chemicals." She rambled.

"Oh, well that's good,"

"I'm gonna put you on speakerphone, Tony wants to say hi."

"Tony? Why are you at Tony's house?"

"Look Abbs, don't freak out, but when he found out you were dead, he tried to kill himself." Tony admitted tactlessly, Tim slapping his palm to his forehead, he had given Tony too much credit.

"WHAT?" Tony asked.

Tim instinctively punched him, not hard, but it sure as hell warned him not to do anything like that again.

"Wait, did you just punch Tony?" She asked giggling.

"Yeah, he deserved it."

"Love you Timmy, I've gotta go, but remember, I love you more than anything else in the world!"

"Love you too Abbs." And with that he shut the phone, and smiled like he had never smiled before.


	16. Missing Her

It was just under a month when Tim received another phone call from Abby. Over that month Tim had made good use of Tony's plentiful gym equipment, and as he had promised to himself, was well and truly in shape. Of course he would never have the athletic physique of Tony, but Abby would be proud of him, and that was what truly mattered to him.

"As hard as it is for me to say this Tim, you're actually lookin' pretty good." Tony admitted, patting Tim on the back.

"Thanks man." Tim chuckled from the couch, he had adopted many of what Gibbs called 'DiNozzo-isms.

One of the more obvious traits he had taken on, was an obsession with movies, when he first moved in, Tony had forced him to watch some of the 'classics', but now he enjoyed them almost as much as Tony, they had truly bonded over the last month.

"RING RING!" Tim's phone screamed from beside his face, causing him to jump.

"Very Special Agent McGee."

"Oh God, you're turning into DiNozzo!" Abby giggled.

"Hey Abbs, I've missed you!"

"Me too, good news the plans been working even better than we thought, so I might get to come home a couple of weeks earlier!"

"That's great Abby!" Tim grinned towards Tony, as he pleaded for him to put the phone on speaker.

"When you see Gibbs next time, can you tell him how much I miss him, and give him a hug for me?" Abby giggled.

"I'll tell him Abbs, but I'm not gonna hug him!"

"Aww, put Tony on, maybe he will."

Tim switched the phone onto speaker and Tony quietly rejoiced.

"Will you give Gibbs a hug for me Tony?"

"Sure thing Abby, but who's gonna give me my hug?"

"TIMMY! HUG HIM NOW!" Abby almost yelled, still quietly giggling to herself.

Tony and Tim stood next to each other, staring apprehensively. Tony leaned in, and wrapped his arms around Tim, while Tim nervously did the same.

"This is so weird…" Tony whispered to Tim so that Abby couldn't here.

"Yeah Tony, no kidding." Tim whispered back, pushing away from Tony now.

"Happy Abbs?" Tim questioned.

"You have no idea Tim." She giggled.

"I'm not sure how long it'll be before I get to call again, but remember how much I love you, and I'll never forget the first time we…" Tim quickly switched the phone off speakerphone and held it to his ear, Tony chuckling in the background.

"I love you too Abbs, good night."

"The first time you what Tim?" Tony laughed.

"The first time we had sex Tony, yeah that's right Tony, I said it!" Tim began to laugh as well, and Tony patted him on the back.

"Congratulations Tim, you're a man." And with that he stumbled into his bedroom, and Tim heard the loud creak of his bed, as he fell onto it.

Tim, with a determined glare opened Tony's door,

"So Tony, what about you and Ziva? When you gonna bring her home?"

"You told me you couldn't listen to us…"

"I'll go out for the night."

"Where? With who?"

"I dunno, Gibbs…" Tim joked.

"I know you're kidding but maybe you should, get him out of the basement you know?" What Tony was saying was heartfelt, it wasn't a joke, and Tim started seriously considering it. I mean it wasn't like Tim wanted to go to strip clubs or anything anyway. Dinner, and hitting a few bars with Gibbs couldn't be too bad, could it?

Tim decided that Tony was right, and called Gibbs' mobile, he knew that he would be working on the boat, and didn't even try the hard line.

"Speak!" Gibbs almost yelled from the other end of the phone. He actually sounded kind of drunk. This should be interesting, Tim thought.

"I was wondering if tomorrow night you wanted to go out, just a restaurant and a few bars, if you'd like." Tim tried to sell the proposition as best he could.

"Yeah sure, you done talking?" He asked quickly, no Gibbs wasn't drunk, he was just kind of in a rush to get off the phone.

"Are you alright Gibbs?"

"Yeah Tim, just… busy."

"With what? You didn't find a case did you?"

As Tim listened more carefully he heard in the background:

"Just hang up Jethro, I don't want him interrupting!" Tim recognised the voice, it was Director Shepherd.

"Umm, I'm ahh gonna leave you to umm, whoever… I mean whatever you're umm… doing." Tim stuttered, and closed his cell phone.

"What's up with you Tim, Gibbs yell at ya or something?" Tony asked quietly.

"No, he was umm with Jenny."

"And by with you mean…?" He asked, Tim, nodding his head profusely.

"HA! Anyway, get out of my room Tim, I'm goin' to sleep." Tony laughed, and then turned over, signalling for Tim to leave.

Tim tossed and turned for hours that night, just wishing that next time he opened his eyes, Abby would be lying beside him, the next two months would be hell.


	17. Resisting Temptation

Tim was strangely not influenced by Gibbs usual intimidating manner anymore, maybe it was the bonding between them which had occurred while they mourned their 'loss' of Abby, or he just didn't care anymore.

Tim sat casually on a bar stool waiting for Gibbs to arrive, and watched everyone who passed him by. Another thing he wasn't used to, were the women, they were practically swarming around him, he partially felt like Tony.

"Hey cutie..." A young woman whispered silkily into his ear, and she moved to sit in the seat beside him. 'WOW' he thought, she was 'smokin' as Tony would say.

"Err hi..."

Without any conversation, she leaned forward and connected with his lips. Tim was still thinking to himself, meanwhile, his head was preoccupied, and he went along with the kiss. A year ago, this would have been an amazing night, a huge boost of his self-confidence, but there were two main problems here, one: he was engaged, and was deeply in love with Abby, and two: this had nothing to do with who he really was, this was some horny woman, who threw herself at the now well toned, and attractive Timothy McGee.

After about a minute of 'thinking', Tim realised that he was still kissing this stranger, and pulled back. She leaned in again, and he had to turn away.

"Look, I'm sorry, I'm engaged..."

"Where's your ring then?" Tim realised he had taken the ring off because it had only made him more depressed.

"...she's dead." He whispered.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry." She whispered back, raising a hand to Tim's shoulder, before jumping off the stool and walking away.

Tim had taken leave from work at NCIS for the two months while Abby was away, and over those months he had not seen Gibbs at all,

"Wow Tim, what happened to my nerdy Special Agent?" Gibbs chuckled from behind Tim's back, as Tim quickly swung his chair around, and smiled.

"DiNozzo." They agreed in unison.

"So have you heard from her at all?" Gibbs whispered, still unable to say her name.

"Ah, yeah, she's called twice over the two months... that reminds me..." Tim jumped off his stool, and pulled Gibbs into one of those unbelievably tight Abby hugs, after a few seconds he pulled away sitting back on the stool, and staring at Gibbs nonchalantly.

"What was that?"

"Abby's present for you." Tim smirked, Gibbs face still looking severely shocked.

"God I miss her..." Gibbs whispered, Tim nodding quickly.

"You know, it's less than three weeks until she gets home... maybe we should throw her a welcome home part or something..." Tim suggested, although he wanted something else entirely.

"No Tim, I know exactly what she's gonna want when she gets home." Gibbs chuckled, finishing the rest of his whiskey.

"So Tim, why'd you really wanna have a beer with me, I know I'm not easy to get along with like Tony..." Gibbs admitted trailing off.

"Tony wanted a night alone..." Lying had never been Tim's strong suit.

"Alone? Tony's loved moulding you into his mini DiNozzo, wingman extraordinaire."

"Well he's with someone..."

"Who?"

"Well... umm... I probably shouldn't tell you but... Ziva."

"Wait, the two of them, are you kidding me? That's great!" Gibbs response rattled him, he was actually happy for them, I guess he'd watched Tony as well, go from the shallow playboy to a man who wanted more than sex, a man who wanted Ziva.

It was five minutes to seven, and Tony sat anxiously on his couch. Where had his calm, easygoing demeanour gone, he was practically sweating.

That was when it hit him; he was in love with Ziva, what we do without her? He had everything ready, and perfect, he had placed three scented candles in the centre of his dining table, and had spent over an hour preparing their food.

A knock on the door pulled Tony out of his dream-like state. He answered the door calmly, yet a large grin lit up his face at the mere sight of the woman he loved.

She was wearing a beautiful white dress, which perfectly showcased her long, tanned legs, and her toned thighs.

"Well don't you look stunning Ms David!" Tony whispered, kissing her gently on the cheek.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to say that!" she murmured silkily, leaning close to him, her body pressed on his...

"Or how long I've been waiting to do this..." She brushed her lips past his ear, and she leaned in further, kissing him full on the lips, their mouths opened allowing their tongues to dual for dominance.

Finally pulling away Tony whispered breathlessly, "I wanna skip it as much as you do, but it took me ages to make dinner, at least help me eat it..."

She kissed him cheekily again, trying eagerly to tempt him.

"Be nice." He chuckled, leading her towards the dining table, and pulling her chair out for her to take a seat.

"This is beautiful Tony!" She whispered, stunned as she ate his well prepared meal.

"And later you'll get to know some of my other hidden talents..."


	18. Alive

Tomorrow, tomorrow the love of his life would be home, the long anticipated moment was drawing near and Tim was unable to contain himself. Tony was desperately trying to occupy him, but it was not use, he had already begun to draw the comparison between Tim and a small child.

Tony had invited Ziva over to help him 'babysit' Tim, although, they weren't doing a very good job, considering they were mainly concentrating on each other's bodies rather than the whereabouts of their overexcited friend. Tim decided to go to NCIS for the day, reasoning to himself that he may as well do something productive while he waited for her arrival.

Quickly busying himself with one of the many stacks of paperwork, his mind still wandered, and he finally gave in, and walked to the elevator, he needed to be in Abby's lab.

He had only come down here twice since she had left, though it made him feel closer to her, it also reminded him of her, only drawing out their time apart.

He stepped slowly out of the elevator into her lab, it was filled with an abnormal silence, so different from the normal atmosphere. As he stood at her desk, breathing in her lab, he heard the elevator, with a flicker of hope he ran toward it, to see three agents taking their evidence bags and soon they had entered the elevator again.

As Tim walked away the elevator doors opened and there she was, the one woman he had been waiting a lifetime to be with.

"ABBY!" Tim jogged toward her, tears in his eyes, lifting her into a hug. She said nothing for more than five minutes, all she could do was cry onto his shoulder, hold him tightly, and breathe in his scent.

"Oh my God, where did my little Timmy McGee go?" She cried, looking him up and down, smiling at his now athletic physique.

"It was all for you, welcome home Abbs!" They were both still crying, and it seemed as though they would never break out of their tight embrace, they hoped they never would.

Tim swung her legs out from underneath her, and in one swift move he was holding her gently to his now muscular chest, smiling.

"Tim, what did Tony do to you!" Abby whispered, giggling. Tim simply grinned, and kissed her, for the first time in three months.

Although Tim had tried to control himself, he was overrun by the urges he had been without for the last three months.

"This is gonna happen here isn't it?" Abby whispered into Tim's ear, kissing the surrounding skin,

"It won't be the first time Abbs..." The searing hot kisses made Abby weak, and Tim lay her down on her lab table. Climbing on top of her they began to forget the world, and prayed to God no one would find them.

"Wow Tim, wow!" Abby sighed, still lying on the lab table as Tim got dressed.

"But wait, why were you down here anyway, no one else is here...?"

Tim instantly stopped pacing, as though his feet were glued to the floor, his mind wandered from her question, he remembered all three of the agonising months, using Tony of all people as his comforter.

The pain of Tony's words, "I'm sorry Tim, she's dead..." brought tears to his eyes, more words flooding through his computer-like mind. "There's nothing in here... just bricks... she's not dead... temporarily reassigned...three months... two months...one month...tomorrow..."

"TIM!" Abby yelled, pulling him out of his personal whirlpool. He looked up, his eyes bored into hers, as he struggled to hold back the tears, waiting for this moment for so long.

"Why were you here Tim? Why?" Her voice was concerned, yet still sweet to Tim, she knew what he had been through, at least partly.

"This was always the closest thing to being you Abbs, I figured after a while, if I couldn't live without you, I needed to find something close, just to keep me going, until you got home.

"Tim, you tried to kill yourself..." Abby sniffed, tears flowing freely down her cheeks, walking slowly towards him, reaching out to hold his hands.

"I couldn't... I can't live without you Abby, you are my life, without you, I have nothing!" She tugged on his shirt, gently kissing him, it wasn't rough, but passionate, gentle, and nothing like either of them had ever experienced.

"We should do that more often..." Abby whispered.

"Oh yeah..." Tim chuckled back. "Abbs we should get out of here, go... home." Tim tried to smile, instead grimacing, Abby simply stared into his eyes, she knew how to manipulate him. If he was going to tell her what was wrong, he would, she didn't need to say a word.

"The last time I was in my... our apartment, that was when I tried to shoot myself." He whispered, tears now trickling down his face.

"In that case... we shouldn't go home Tim, let's just stay here for the day, we'll see if we're feeling up to it tonight.

The next few hours were the quietest, yet the best hours of Tim's life. He did not care what Abby was saying, what she did, she was there, with him, and that was all that mattered.

Believe it or not, he had actually forgotten about the baby. With all the excitement he had forgotten to even ask her about it.

"Abby, are we seriously gonna be parents?" Tim asked quietly, still looking doubtful.

"Yeah Tim, I'm 5 months pregnant. Oh my Einstein, you're gonna be the best Dad!"

Now that Tim looked at Abby, how had he not noticed, "You've swallowed a planet?" Tim chuckled, Abby scowling for a second before bursting into hysterical fits of laughter.

"I love this..." Abby whispered, stroking Tim's face.

"Yeah me too, I wish we never had to leave..." Tim continued Abby's thought, as though their mind's were truly connected.

"But you do!" Laughed a voice from the elevator, he was jogging towards them, it was Tony, towing Ziva behind him.

If Tim didn't know better he would have said that Tony was crying, Ziva certainly was. The four of them all embraced, like a huddled mass, all crying, but smiles that could light up a city.

"Welcome home Abby..."

"I'm glad to be back."


	19. Family

_Before you read: I'm soooo sorry about the huge delay between the two chapters, I could make up excuses (I have plenty) but overall my laziness seemed to get the best of me… anyway once again, sorry, enjoy the chapter, and I promise not to let my laziness distract me anymore. R&R _

_Also… in case you're wondering about Gibbs & Jenny with Vance as Director, this story is set in Season 6, instead of Jenny dying Judgement Day, she left NCIS, but is still with Gibbs._

"So, what do you think of McBiceps?" Tony chuckled, staring at the new and improved Timothy McGee.

"Very impressive Tony, he'd give you a run for your money!" she chuckled back, poking her tongue out in Tony's direction. Ziva had just gone for a coffee run giving Abby the perfect opportunity to ask about their 'relationship'.

"You and my favourite ninja huh Tony?" she was still giggling, as they all had been since they were reunited.

"Yeah well, you and Tim, Gibbs and Jenny, we figured it was time to take the leap, and it was so worth it!" Tony grinning, but it wasn't a normal, cheeky DiNozzo grin, it was real, maybe Ziva was the right one for him, maybe now he could be truly happy. "I really love her Abbs, I really, really do!"

And with that Abby jumped up and landed on him, giving him a classic Abby bear hug, lasting for almost five minutes until Tony claimed he couldn't breathe, and Tim was starting to get jealous.

Abby shuffled backward, and snuggled close to Tim, resting her head on his shoulder, and holding his hand.

Soon Ziva returned with coffee's, and the room began to feel like a home, the four of them like a family, they were always there for each other, through the good times, and the bad, they all seemed to be thinking in synchronicity as well, suddenly breaking the silence, Tony raised his coffee mug,

"To death do us part!" Tony smiled, Tim, Abby, and Ziva also raising their mugs, and smiling, for once in their lives, everything was going to plan.

Behind them a mug dropped, Ziva instantly pulling out her gun, much to the amusement of the rest of the team, it was the one person who completed them, their father figure, and the man Abby could not wait to see.

"GIBBS!" She jumped about a metre in the air, and sprinted towards him, almost knocking him to the ground. It was clear for anyone, he was crying. He had lost too many women in his life, Shannon, Kelly, Kate, he couldn't bear to remember those few weeks trying to cope without Abby, his secondary daughter.

"Oh! I missed you so much Gibbs!" She continued to hug him, he was unable to talk, both because of his uncontrollable tears, and the tightness of Abby's embrace. Gibbs had never been one for crying in public, even managing to stay stoic at Abby's sham funeral, but this was too much, for a moment he didn't even care that his team was watching him cry, but only for a moment.

He tried quickly to compose himself, wearing a straight face, but with a huge grin, she finally let go of him, and they stared at each other for a long moment.

Suddenly, "Shit, you're REALLY pregnant!" Gibbs almost yelled, Tim walking towards Abby now, he thought it would be harder than this for Gibbs to accept one of his agents not only marrying, but impregnating the girl he thought of as a daughter.

Tim stood proud beside Abby now, preparing to receive the brunt of any lecture heading their way, but it never came. Despite Gibbs talks with Tim about the possibility of children, and him finding out that Abby told Ducky she was pregnant, he was unprepared. He had figured that Vance had made at least half of his explanation up as he went, but he was wrong, and Vance was right.

"Um…congratulations Abby, Tim." He hugged Abby again, and gave a firm handshake to a pleasantly surprised Tim McGee.

Conversation settled in, as the five team mates sat together sharing stories from the past three months, all claiming to have missed Abby the most… however all were avoiding Tim's near death, which was quite easily noticed by Tim and Abby, they had all said what they did when they first realised she was dead, however when it was Tim's turn the subject was quickly changed.

However, the team were more open with each other than they had ever been before, truly a family more than anything else. Suddenly, guilt struck Tim, '_Ducky_' he thought, he had been so rude to Ducky, when all he was doing was his job, what if he had hurt him, he couldn't bear to think of what damage he may have done.

"I have to go see Ducky…" Tim murmured, slowly standing up.

"Hey! I'm coming with you, but just let me say goodbye to this lot!" Abby squeaked, trying to pull everyone into a group hug.

She whispered to each one of them separately;

"Gibbs, thanks for never giving up hope on me, the others started to move on, but you loved me too much." And planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Ziva, Tony loves you more than you know, take care of him…"

"Tony, thank you, you saved his life, I owe everything to you."

She stood beside Tim, grinning at them, turned and quickly towed Tim behind her.

"HEY! Thanks, but we'll see you tomorrow!" Tony shouted after them, a giggle was heard from the elevator.

"And as for you Timmy, I've never been more grateful to be alive." She kissed him on the cheek, and once again pulled him into a tight hug, and pressed the button to Autopsy.

The soft mumble of Ducky talking to his dead patients could be heard from the elevator, as Tim took a huge breath before stepping out, ready to confront one of the demons he had created in his darkest period.

They shuffled closer to Ducky, Abby pushing Tim forward, what would he have done if she had never come back, the thought was clear, he would have found a way to escape from Tony, to end it all, no one could have stopped him.

Ducky turned toward them and stared into Tim's now warm, caring eyes, apprehensively though, like something within him hated Ducky, his oldest, wisest friend.

They both looked worried, like each one would not forgive the other, however for once in Ducky's life, he was wrong. Abby had changed him, brought him back to life, given reason to his existence.

A smile lit up the older man's face, inspiring Tim to do the same.

"I forgive you." He walked towards Tim, as he nodded, and Abby grinned as she always did.

"I'm sorry…"


End file.
